Ontario, Canada Voter Lists, 1867-1900

This database contains voter registration lists for various towns and villages in Ontario, Canada from 1876-1900.

After confederation in 1867 the government began keeping registration lists of eligible voters. Some of the lists are separated according to who is eligible to vote at Municipal elections and who is eligible to vote at Legislative Assembly elections. Women weren’t granted the right to vote until 1918, so there won’t be any women listed in these records.

Information recorded in the registers may vary according to year and city. Information that may be listed though includes:

• Name of voter


• Town


• Year of registration


• Address


• Occupation

Voter registers are great records to use as “census substitutes”, since they will usually contain the names of heads of households and other adults. They are useful when census records are either not complete or non-existent, and are usually available in between census years. Because voter registers were published on a fairly consistent basis they are useful for tracking individuals over time and place.